Authors:

Michael Bestehorn(Dep. Theor. Physics, BTU Cottbus, Germany)

Merkt Domnic

We study a thin liquid film with a free surface on a uniformly
heated
substrate. The film is heated from the gas side. We show that if
the fluid is
initially in equilibrium with its own vapor in the gas phase,
regular
long-scale surface
patterns in the form of long-wave hexagons or stripes having a
well defined
lateral length scale can be observed [1].
This is in sharp contrast to the case
without evaporation where coarsening or rupture to larger and
larger patterns
is seen in the long time limit. In this way, evaporation could be
used for
regular structuring of the film surface.
Finally we show how other stability mechanisms can be included,
e.g. the
Marangoni effect or Van der Waals forces in ultra thin films. In
this way,
a much richer pattern dynamics is expected, showing
also squares, stripes and hexagons. and transitions among them.
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[1] M. Bestehorn, D. Merkt, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 97}, 127802 (2006)

To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2008.DFD.EF.7